10 Respecting First Nations knowledges in UQ Library

UQ Library

Introduction

UQ Library is privileged to be a custodian of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collections and, in so doing, contributes to the sustainability of the oldest living knowledge systems in the world. The Library’s focus on Indigenising curriculum is deeply rooted in “respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, lands, water, knowledges, histories and rights” (Bunda, 2022, p. 15).

As a library, our purpose is to help students, teachers and community members connect, create and use information, and build knowledge. The Library’s approach to develop and create resources that support teaching academics and learning designers who are working to Indigenise curriculum brings together expertise from across the Library including librarians working in our Faculty Services, special collections, archives and digital content teams, as well as Library professionals responsible for creating course reading lists, acquiring and making Library resources available, and digitising collections. In this work, our staff bring diverse perspectives, having grown up on the unceded lands of the Turrbal and Jagera peoples, the Kabi Kabi peoples, Awabakal and Wiradjuri peoples, and Whadjuk peoples, along with staff members from Fiji and Great Britain who now live on this beautiful Country. We acknowledge and pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we work and live.

Positioning of the authors

Anna Lagos is the Associate Director at UQ Library. Anna lives, and spent her childhood, on the lands of the Turrbal and Jagera peoples. While she has always loved libraries and learning, she acknowledges that this has occurred largely through colonial spaces and from Eurocentric traditions. She is committed to making libraries welcoming and safe spaces for all, which includes respecting and elevating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges.

Lesley Acres is a descendant of the Bidjara and Kairi tribes and Kodal clan, Mabuiag Island, Torres Strait Islands. Lesley joined UQ Library in 2022, and is Manager, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services and Collections. Lesley has worked in the library and information sector for 11 years and was a leader and educator in the Culturally Safe Libraries program that was rolled out by National and State Libraries Australasia (NSLA). Lesley has 32 years’ experience working at different levels of government in a wide range of Indigenous affairs.

Raelee Lancaster is Principal Advisor, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services and Collections, UQ Library. Raelee is a Wiradjuri yinna (woman), with ancestral ties to the Biripi peoples and familial ties to the G/Kamilaraay peoples, who grew up on Awabakal lands in Newcastle, New South Wales. Raelee holds a Master of Information Science and their career crosses library services and heritage collections.

Julie Oates is a Senior Manager, UQ Library. Julie was born in England and lived in England, Wales and Scotland during her early adulthood. She made her home in Meanjin (Brisbane) 20 years ago and is privileged to live on the lands of the Turrbal and Jagera peoples. She is committed to being an ally and supporter of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander colleagues and students and does this by encouraging and facilitating UQ Library staff development of cultural competency and working with her team to actively support Indigenising the curriculum.

Thomas Palmer is a Manager, UQ Library. Thomas lives in Meanjin (Brisbane) and spent his childhood in Bell County, Texas, on the lands of several peoples, including the Tonkawas, Lipan Apaches, Wacos, Anadarkos, Kiowas and Comanches. Thomas is interested in how libraries and the open education movement can support Indigenising the curriculum.

Kat Lee is currently the Copyright and Open Licencing Librarian, at Southern Cross University Library and was previously the Learning and Research Services Librarian, UQ Library. Kat grew up on and lives in Meanjin, on the lands of the Turrbal and Jagera peoples. She currently works at the Gold Coast on the lands of the Yugambeh peoples. As a librarian, Kat is dedicated to self-educating on issues relating to First Nations people’s engagement with libraries and is passionate about supporting practices to promote greater prominence of Indigenous voices in library collections and educational materials.

Kirsty Rickett is Senior Librarian, Client Experience, in the Fryer Library, UQ Library. Kirsty lives and works on the lands of the Turrbal and Jagera peoples. From a very young age she has loved books and libraries, valuing the idea of libraries being safe and welcoming places for all. While working in the Fryer Library, she has had the privilege to work with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services and Collections team, broadening her understanding of Indigenous perspectives of libraries as cultural institutions, and learning to create a more inclusive sense of place.

Kia Owens is a Library Services Officer, UQ Library. Kia grew up on the lands of the Yugambeh/Kombumerri peoples. They now live in Meanjin on the lands of the Turrbal and Jagera peoples. Kia has always had an interest in making places more inclusive for everyone. They are committed to dismantling Eurocentric, heteronormative traditions which prevent diverse people from thriving in society. Re-embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges and perspectives in stolen land is a big part of this commitment, which incorporates Indigenising the curriculum.

Lucy Behm is a Manager in the Faculty Services Librarians team, UQ Library. Lucy grew up on the lands of the Wajuk peoples before moving to Kurrungul Country and Meanjin Country. She now lives on the lands of the Gubbi Gubbi and Ningi Ningi peoples. Lucy is committed to developing her cultural competency and ensuring the libraries of today and the future reflect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges and traditions.

Dulcie Stewart is the UQ eSpace Coordinator, UQ Library. Dulcie was born in Suva, Fiji, and now lives on Turrbal and Yuggera Country. She is of Indigenous Fijian (Bua, Tailevu, Rewa, and Kadavu) and colonial-settler heritage. As a multidisciplinary artist whose practice looks at reframing colonial narratives of Indigenous Fijians, Dulcie is committed to the integration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives into curricula and libraries.

Miranda Newell is a Digital Learning Specialist at UQ Library. Miranda grew up on and continues to live on the lands of the Turrbal and Jagera peoples. She is interested in creating inclusive digital learning content that reflects diverse perspectives and needs, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges, perspectives and studies, Indigenising curriculum, and Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP).

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services and Collections team perspective

Our work on Indigenising curriculum is guided and supported by the Library’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services and Collections (ATSISC) team, who are members and descendants of the sovereign Wiradjuri, Biripi, Bidjara, Kairi, Badugal, Jinibara, Butchulla, Kabi Kabi and Yuwaalaraay Nations. The ATSISC team leads and contributes to projects and engagement initiatives across the Library, the University and externally. Research around Indigenous employment in the library sector highlights how Indigenous library staff bolster cultural safety to drive change and enable allyship that supports Indigenous priorities within our organisations (Thorpe, 2021). Since its inception, the ATSISC team has led the establishment of collaborative workflows and processes that incorporate the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Protocols for Libraries, Archives and Information Services (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Library, Information and Resource Network, 2012). They have identified other Library positions needed to support Indigenising curriculum and advised on alleviating recognised barriers, such as cultural load (Thorpe, 2023), which is experienced when contributing to this work. They have also built a stronger sense of community wherein challenging and courageous conversations can be had, which reinforces cultural safety and emboldens non-Indigenous staff to contribute to this work.

By enabling Library staff to increase their cultural knowledge and capacity, there has been an increase in leadership support and the alleviation of cultural load (Thorpe, 2023), as well as added fervour for cross-team collaboration as discussed in this chapter. In acknowledging those who came before us, including University of Queensland (UQ) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander alumni, the late Dr Margaret Valadian, the late Sam Watson, Professor Megan Davis, Dr Jackie Huggins and Kev Carmody, to name a few, we have established a strong foundation upon which the Library can execute its Indigenising curriculum goals. For example, Dr Mary Graham along with Dr Lilla Watson, the first known Aboriginal tutor at UQ, were instrumental in developing and teaching the first Indigenous-led Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander studies course at UQ. Our Library, in conjunction with UQ Archives, holds the records and collections material that highlight their, and many other people’s, achievements, and we acknowledge that the work we do today continues the legacy of those who came before, laying the foundation for a brighter, bla(c)ker future (Acres et al., 2024).

In this chapter, we consider a library’s role in challenging colonial traditions and provide insights into how we approached the important work of Indigenising the curriculum. We also share resources developed to support key initiatives.

Challenging colonial traditions

Libraries are traditionally viewed as beloved, neutral places that are innately good, connecting people with information, creating knowledge and supporting democracy. However, as Chiu et al. (2021, p. 49) argue, these values are rarely challenged in professional literature, nor do they recognise libraries’ legacy being based on Western conquest and colonialism. In acknowledging this history, we recognise that libraries can and must evolve. For UQ Library staff, supporting efforts to Indigenise curriculum signals this evolution.

Our work builds on foundational efforts to elevate and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges and perspectives in UQ special and research collections (Murphy, 2023). As such, our resources and efforts to support Indigenising curriculum and respecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges include providing, and providing assistance to staff and students in identifying, culturally appropriate resources; ensuring respectful access to collections and use of resources by implementing cultural access protocols and developing new descriptive practices to respectfully describe Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander materials; and creating culturally safe spaces by implementing cultural sensitivity warnings and building cultural capabilities among staff.

Building cultural capability

In 2021, several years before UQ officially endorsed its Indigenising curriculum strategy, the Library Executive team, comprised of the University Librarian, Library Directors and Senior Managers, embarked on their own learning journey by commissioning First Nations leaders in the galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM) sector to share their experiences of working as Indigenous people in the sector and in working with institutions to understand the impact of their cultural practices. Through reflective sessions, the leadership team examined what meaningful allyship would look like in practice, and how they could lead organisational change within the Library. This foundational leadership commitment and understanding were crucial in recognising that Indigenising curriculum must be the responsibility of all Library staff, and not just those working in the ATSISC team. Building on the leadership team’s experience, a comprehensive strategy was created for building cultural capabilities across the Library. This strategy acknowledged that staff would need to address their discomfort, and that mistakes would happen, as we continued moving forward. By demonstrating their own learning journey, our Library leaders created an environment where staff felt supported to engage with this important work.

The Library implemented, and continues to implement, this strategy via three key approaches for building cultural capability: formal training, cultural immersion activities, and internal professional development.

Formal training

The Library is committed to creating a culturally safe environment for staff, students and communities. A culturally competent workforce is required in order to achieve this. As custodians of collections with Indigenous knowledges, it is imperative staff understand their obligations in caring and providing appropriate access. In line with the National and State Libraries Australasia’s (NSLA) Culturally Safe Libraries Program, formal training was made available to provide a base of cultural competency (Lemon, 2022). The formal training opportunities made available to Library staff included:

• Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) Core Cultural Learning modules (AIATSIS, n.d.): These modules provide a detailed exploration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and issues, as a means of assisting you to enhance your cultural understanding.
• BlackCard Cultural Capability program (BlackCard, n.d.): Training that allows participants to develop an understanding to undertake the same obligations and responsibilities to land and to each other as Aboriginal people have practised for thousands of years.
• True Tracks training (Terri Janke and Company, n.d.): An awareness and understanding of Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) is crucial to respecting Indigenous knowledges. Providing training to staff enables them to recognise the importance of Indigenous knowledges and ensure appropriate use within the Library. As the Library embarks on the development of an ICIP framework, staff are required to undertake this training to implement policies and procedures.
• Workshops with other GLAM institutions. These workshops provide opportunities for Library staff to hear about applying culturally safe practices in similar institutions.

Cultural immersion activities

Cultural Immersion activities were introduced to embed the learnings undertaken in formal training activities, these included:

• Library staff visits to Cherbourg. In 2022, with guidance from the ATSISC team, Library staff visited the Ration Shed Museum, Cherbourg. Cherbourg is an Aboriginal community a three-hour drive north-west of Brisbane. The museum offers tours of the historical buildings, explaining the traumatic history of people controlled by the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act, 1897. Due to the profound effects this visit had on staff, this cultural immersion activity is conducted annually to enhance cultural learning of Library staff.
• Participation in cultural events such as NAIDOC Week strengthens staff learning. Cultural events assist in building an awareness of the historical importance and resilience of First Nations peoples.

Internal professional development

To support the formal learning and cultural immersion activities, the Library developed professional development opportunities for Library staff in order to contextualise our learning specifically to UQ Library and to provide opportunities for staff to reflect on and share their learning journeys with colleagues. With the endorsement of the Library’s leadership team, the Library adopted two approaches: structured learning and facilitated discussion. Both had good uptake by Library staff.

Structured learning

The Library designed a structured learning program in order to ensure all Library staff would be able to provide assistance to UQ staff and students related to Indigenising curriculum, with learning objectives based on an understanding of the different levels of support delivered by different Library teams and the knowledge required to provide this support. The Library used the 23 Things concept (23 Things International, n.d.), familiar to Library staff, to provide self-guided learning in a week-by-week structure.

The program, 23 Things to know about Indigenising Curriculum, provides learning resources – usually in the form of a short online reading, blog post or module – to help Library staff understand how they can support efforts to Indigenise curriculum and decolonise Library practices, including:

• Cultural protocols and sensitivities: understanding the importance of cultural protocols and sensitive items in UQ Library’s collections, as well as how Library staff can facilitate culturally safe and respectful access to these collections
• Collection development practices: discussing how our Eurocentric collection development practices must evolve to ensure the discoverability of items in the collection
• Resources the Library has available to support teaching academics: ensuring Library staff have good awareness of the resources developed to support Indigenising curriculum efforts
• Consideration of our discomfort in working in this space: helping Library staff address their own uncertainties about supporting work to Indigenise curriculum where they may not feel like they are the experts.

These topics, and more, were released to Library staff fortnightly, over the course of a year, to allow staff time to incorporate this learning into the daily practices. Library staff were afforded time when it worked into their weekly schedules to engage with the resources and reflect on their learning. An internal online conversation was created for Library staff to share their learnings or questions as they worked through the 23 different topics.

Facilitated discussions: AIATSIS Core Cultural Learning modules

As previously mentioned, Library staff are encouraged to complete the 10 AIATSIS Core Cultural Learning modules as part of their formal training to build cultural capability. Supported by informal professional development, the Library piloted the facilitated discussion of these 10 modules, each facilitated by a member of the Library Executive team. Across five sessions, two modules were discussed each time, with reflection questions adapted from the modules circulated in advance. These discussions provided a safe space for staff to reflect on the content of the modules and consider how learnings could be incorporated into their work.

Another feature of the facilitated discussions was the opportunity for team members to introduce themselves using the BlackCard method. This allowed participants to share details of their family, where they considered home, and to reflect on the Traditional Owners of the lands on which they grew up or lived. Introducing ourselves in the workplace with the lens of “who we are” rather than the Western tradition of “what we do” (i.e., our work unit and role/title), added a valuable aspect to the discussion series.

Developing curated collections

UQ Library has dedicated resourcing to developing digital and print collections that support Indigenising curriculum. Books with a focus on this, and research from other First Nations countries, have been procured, along with books written by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors and on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives. Within our Curriculum Collection, for example, there has been an increased focus on procuring books (including picture books) that can be used by students studying education. Priority has also been given to purchasing books from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander publishers and distributors.

To support the access and discovery of material, curated collections have been developed. These collections are located on a dedicated UQ Library webpage, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander resources (UQ, 2025c). Publicly accessible, the collections are well-used by students, researchers and members of the public, and include collections dedicated to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors, art, languages, primary source materials, images, theses and more.

Some UQ collections include material that may be culturally sensitive, for example, material with secret and sacred Indigenous knowledges (i.e., initiation and sacred cultural rites); information on sacred sites (i.e., bora rings, ceremonial grounds); material only able to be viewed by certain peoples (i.e., Men’s Business and Women’s Business); evidence of frontier violence (i.e., massacres, information relating to Native Police); and otherwise triggering topics (i.e., the Stolen Generations). The ATSISC team regularly conducts cultural assessments where these sensitivities are uncovered and accurately described within records. This may include adding a cultural sensitivity statement to a record. For example, a cultural assessment of UQFL5 Box 11, Reminiscences of my early days in Ipswich by George Harris held in Fryer Library, discovered Indigenous knowledges within this collection. The Library record did not have a cultural advice statement advising users that this record contains information that may be culturally sensitive to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This process ensures Indigenous knowledges are appropriately described and users informed accordingly.

The Library also has a dedicated webpage for using culturally sensitive collections which contains cultural advice for UQ resources and sites, and information on how to flag a resource or make a takedown request (UQ, 2025g).

Raven’s Guidelines for First Nations Collection Description (2023) sets out a standardised approach to cataloguing and describing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander material. Our ATSISC team has developed a localised version of Raven’s guidelines which has helped inform the work around our culturally sensitive collections and the auditing of selected resources for teaching and learning. This includes identifying secret, sacred and sensitive materials and, where applicable, adding a cultural advice statement, see Figure 1. For enhanced accessibility, subject headings are updated with AustLang peoples and language headings as well as AIATSIS Pathways Thesauri subject and placename headings. The development of our collections is vital to Indigenising the curriculum because when resources are described fully and accurately they are more discoverable and more readily accessed.

In developing collections, the Library is supporting truth-telling and the challenging of our own beliefs. By centring truth-telling, for example, we can include the voices and perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples that have been excluded in the past, and challenge colonial myths historically reinforced by libraries and other collecting institutions. This has required our Library teams to examine their practices and to question who has the authority to make changes and update records. In doing so, power and authority have been renegotiated to provide our ATSISC team with the training, system access and authority needed to update collection records and provide full and accurate descriptions (previously the domain of specialist librarian roles).

Developing Library resources to support Indigenising curriculum

To ensure relevant resources were easy to find and share with academics working to Indigenise their curriculum, the Library developed a dedicated website, Indigenising Curriculum Resources. This site brings together support and resources for embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander curriculum and inclusive teaching practices in programs, with links to many other resources and collections made available by the Library (UQ, 2025e).

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander referencing guide, another new resource, outlines a method to acknowledge, celebrate and respect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ knowledges and materials. The guide uses culturally appropriate and respectful language practices when writing with, for or about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples that showcase the culturally diverse knowledge that enriches the teaching curriculum (UQ, 2025b). This guide is evolving as our understanding continues to develop, and is beneficial to both staff and students.

Another guide beneficial to both staff and students is Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives. It provides a comprehensive list of resources with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander focus, and offers tips for searching for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander material (UQ, 2025a).

The Get Started with Indigenising Curriculum module is designed for teaching staff who are thinking about or working towards Indigenising curriculum (UQ, 2024). Adapted from the School of Political Science and International Studies’ “Incorporating Indigenous Scholarship Tip Sheet”, this module provides information about Library resources and general helpful advice.

For students completing studies specifically related to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and issues, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander studies subject guide, with curated resources, is available (UQ, 2025d).

Teaching with special collections

The UQ Library is privileged to be custodians of primary source materials containing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges and languages. These special collections are utilised for teaching via object based learning (OBL) classes within the Fryer Library (UQ, 2025f). The ATSISC team, special collections librarians and academics work together to provide a multisensory learning experience for students. In doing so, cultural collections are explored to expand knowledge and understanding of Indigenous knowledges and perspectives within a safe and welcoming learning environment. These hands-on OBL classes are employed in multiple fields of study, including current courses on Australian literature incorporating Indigenous perspectives and new courses focusing on revitalising Indigenous languages.

Indigenising curriculum reading list

The Indigenising curriculum reading list, a curated list of resources, is available in the UQ Library collection. Written from or about Indigenous or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives, a cultural heritage statement for work is included where the author/s or contributor/s are Indigenous or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. The Indigenising curriculum reading list was curated using Talis Aspire, a course readings software program used across all disciplines with a function that allows teaching staff to add resources to their course reading list.

To create the reading list, resources relating to Indigenous and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives were pulled from existing UQ Talis Aspire course reading lists. These readings were exported into an Excel spreadsheet and sorted by Faculty. Readings were then searched for biographical information about the authors to determine whether they identified as Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander or a non-Australian Indigenous group (e.g., Māori). Staff also searched for cultural heritage information in biographical statements included in the resource, the author’s academic profile or official website and other sources if it could be verified they were written or endorsed by the author. A statement was then included in the notes section stating either the author’s/authors’ self-identified heritage (for work created exclusively by Indigenous author/s or creator/s), or that the work included contributions from Indigenous authors (for edited works), see Figure 2. The wording of the statements was decided at the beginning of the project in consultation with the ATSISC team. As the project progressed, statements were adjusted to accommodate creative works such as video, performance and multimedia.

Once an initial list was created, it became clear that some discipline areas had fewer resources than others. To address this gap, two additional rounds of searching were undertaken: one, to find relevant resources from other Australian university libraries’ reading lists; and two, to find relevant resources from the UQ Library’s collection not already included on course reading lists. Once more resources were identified, the same process was followed to apply relevant cultural heritage statements.

At the time of writing, more than 300 resources have been identified, with cultural heritage notes applied.

The reading list is also frequently updated with Library staff adding resources as identified. Relevant open textbooks authored by UQ, such as UQ has a Blak History, are being added to the reading list on their release. Additionally, two major updates and maintenance procedures are scheduled annually to identify resources in bulk from individual course reading lists for adding to the UQ Library’s Indigenising curriculum reading list.

Challenges in developing an Indigenising curriculum reading list

It can be challenging to verify authors’ cultural affiliations. For example, while academic or institutional affiliation is typically provided on scholarly material, it is less common for an author to state their family or Country. While authors who work in universities may include information relating to their cultural heritage on their academic profile or website, some resources co-authored by professional partners (e.g., Indigenous organisations) do not provide this information. It is likely that these authors do have a relevant cultural heritage, however, no statement is included when staff are unable to verify this information.

The majority of Library staff applying heritage statements are Anglo-European. While staff have undertaken cultural awareness training, including Core Cultural Learning online modules, we acknowledge the potential for biases and ignorance of cultural conventions, both of which can unintentionally affect the Indigenising curriculum reading list. While the statements have been created in consultation with the ATSICS team, it may also be useful to partner with other Indigenous and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff across UQ in the creation and application of these statements to ensure they are appropriate for all.

The Indigenising curriculum reading list was built mainly with resources already being used in course teaching. While this will hopefully allow teaching staff from different courses to find and use the resources, it also means that most resources have not been critically examined. For example, as many resources were chosen before Indigenising the curriculum became a key strategic priority, the majority of readings in some disciplines were about Indigenous groups, rather than by them. Additionally, useful resources not previously used in teaching were likely missed.

In moving forward, and if resourcing allows, it could be beneficial to organise the Indigenising curriculum reading list by specific Schools or subject areas. While the Talis Aspire software does not currently allow for tagging resources in this way, this is a feature they are looking to eventually add.

Indigenising curriculum with OERs

The UQ Library supports the creation and use of open educational resources (OERs), online objects that can be accessed free of charge and are openly licensed for others to use, adapt and share to support teaching, learning and research. One way the Library supports OERs at UQ is through the Open Textbooks @ UQ service and grant program which provides Pressbooks, a service and authoring platform to help teaching staff publish free, open textbooks for UQ students to use. Here, we outline how the Library has leveraged OERs to support Indigenising the curriculum via a range of new resources for students.

Open Textbooks @ UQ

Reflecting a growing interest in OERs across Australia and New Zealand, in 2019 UQ established its Open Textbooks @ UQ service and grant program. This program assists academics to create open textbooks by, for example, paying for research or editorial support, paying for the creation of video or interactive content, and/or buying out their teaching time. As a publishing platform, Open Textbooks @ UQ allows a wide range of media to be incorporated into the open textbook, including text, images, audio, videos and more interactive elements such as chapter quizzes.

As commercial textbooks are often published in and focused on the Global North (particularly the United States and Europe), these products often lack Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges and perspectives. Given this, the option of academics creating their own open textbooks is proving popular, with the Open Textbooks @ UQ program supporting the creation of a range of OERs, for example, The Language of Relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Bunda et al., 2023); UQ has a Blak History (Acres et al., 2024); and Storying the Archive: Evoking the Fryer Library Indigenous Collection (Bunda & Deane, 2024).